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Al Jazeera

As major powers act unilaterally, experts say UN faces crisis in New York

Experts warn the UN faces crises of funding, relevance, and Security Council gridlock.As world leaders gather in New York for the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts say the institution is battling an existential crisis of funding, relevance and Security Council gridlock.Major conflicts appear intractable, and powers like the United States and Russia can bend the UN’s Security Council to their will; member states are looking for new mechanisms to bring accountability to the venue and for a new secretary-general to voice their concerns. The body has been accused of failing to stop what its own experts have said is a genocide in Gaza.World leaders are not under any illusion that the UNGA is in good health, said Daniel Forti, head of UN Affairs at the International Crisis Group. Yet many still understand the venue’s power.“The vast majority of leaders, from small states, from middle powers, and even a few from major powers, recognise the importance of a UN that is a global conversation platform,” Forti said.The UN is juggling multiple conflicts – from high-profile wars involving Iran to the often overlooked catastrophes in Sudan and Myanmar.In the Ukraine war, the UN says more civilians were killed in the first eight months of 2026 than in the whole of 2025, and even NATO powers now say they worry about spillover into their countries.Russia has repeatedly vetoed Security Council resolutions, but Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has continued to appear before the UNGA to urge member states to help stop Moscow.On Wednesday, Zelenskyy spoke for the fifth time before the assembly since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, urging leaders to further tighten economic measures meant to punish Moscow despite its vetoes of Security Council resolutions.“Many of you here have seen more than once how the abuse of the veto at the UN weakens the world and pushes peace further away,” Zelenskyy said.In the Israeli war on Gaza, the UN has labelled Israel’s conduct there a genocide, but it has struggled to exercise real agency. Security Council resolutions have been repeatedly vetoed, and UN relief agencies have been targeted by Israel without any accountability.The ongoing war between the US, Israel and Iran is having economic impacts across the globe and threatens to plunge Yemen back into a civil war.“From Ukraine, to Gaza, and Sudan, and also with what’s happening now in Iran, the veto problem leaves the UN hamstrung,” said Alanna O’Malley, professor and chair of Global Governance and Wealth and head of the Department of History at Erasmus University.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Al Jazeera’s James Bays this week that these conflicts were having real humanitarian impacts worldwide, including reduced food access, rising fuel prices, and global inflation.The UNGA will allow the opportunity for some discussions for parties involved in these kinds of conflicts, but it is unlikely they can reach major agreements, said Forti.But the assembly is still the only forum where all 193 member states are equal, and nations have tried to invoke new procedures and reach back into historical mechanisms to try and mitigate the veto deadlocks, O’Malley said.A 1950 resolution, dating from a deadlock over the Korean War, has allowed the UNGA to debate issues vetoed in the Security Council. And in 2022, an impasse over Ukraine generated a new mechanism forcing any permanent council representative – China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US, often called the P5 – to come before the UNGA and explain when it uses the veto.“The idea is to build more accountability into the system for the P5, to make the veto not just harder to use, but also ensure it uses a lot of political capital,” O’Malley said.Calls for reforms have only increased since 2023 and Israel’s war on Gaza, O’Malley said, with “unprecedented” majority votes in the UNGA challenging the Security Council.Perhaps the greatest challenge facing the UNGA, though, is remaining relevant as major global powers go their own way.The administration of US President Trump has pushed through its own Board of Peace, a body that has accomplished few of its goals but has secured Security Council approval and claims to take on responsibilities previously handled by UN agencies, like distributing aid or managing refugees.Unhappy with the UN, Trump has also imposed sanctions on the body’s special rapporteurs, as well as organisations like the International Criminal Court.Washington, though, may not be the only government looking to strike out on its own.Chinese President Xi Jinping is in the US this week, but he will not be attending the UNGA. He last addressed the body in 2021 via video, but this year he will skip it altogether, opting instead for one-on-one talks with US President Trump. China has positive views of the UN, often using the Security Council to weigh in on global issues, Forti said, but it is also looking for alternatives, through venues like BRICS and the SCO, to strengthen multilateralism.

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Al Jazeera

Manchester United losses jump nearly a third to $57m despite record revenue

Manchester United’s debt remains over one billion pounds ($1.3bn) despite record revenues that are unable to prevent loss at the UK football side.Manchester United’s annual net loss increased by almost one third to 43 million pounds ($57m) despite record-breaking revenues announced on Wednesday.The Red Devils reported 677.6 million pounds ($897.8m) in revenue in the year to June 30, up 1.7 percent.However, the football club announced a seventh straight annual loss after taxes as co-owner Jim Ratcliffe’s cuts to operating costs offset contractual payments to sacked manager Ruben Amorim and a big increase in loan repayments.The latest earnings relate to a turbulent 2025-26 season, which saw former United player Michael Carrick replace Amorim and secure qualification for the Champions League.The increase in revenue was driven by an uptick in broadcasting income, boosted by a third-place finish in the Premier League, up from 15th the previous season.But commercial and match-day income each fell close to five percent during a season in which there were no European fixtures. Broadcasting income jumped almost 20 percent.United’s accounts showed that they paid 8.2 million pounds (10.9m) in exceptional items, mostly related to the departure of Amorim, who left in January after 14 months in charge.Accounts also revealed that the club paid 63.5 million pounds ($84m) to acquire land adjacent to stadium site Old Trafford, on which they plan to build a new 100,000-capacity arena.Ratcliffe has overseen wide-ranging, and often unpopular, cost-cutting measures, including widespread job cuts, after completing a deal to buy a stake in the club in February 2024.Man United CEO Omar Berrada said the latest figures showed the club’s underlying strength.“This shows the direct impact of the work we have been doing over the past two years,” he said in a statement.“It also proves Manchester United’s enduring popularity and commercial strength.“While these results confirm that we are on the right trajectory, we will continue to take a disciplined approach to ensure our finances remain sustainable,” he added.United expect revenue of between 740 million pounds ($980m) and 760 million pounds ($1bn) in the current financial year.Carrick’s team has started the new season poorly despite signing a clutch of new players in the summer transfer window.United have taken only five points from their five Premier League games – equalling the club’s worst-ever start to a season – and last week crashed out of the English League Cup.

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Google News — Entertainment

Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 15 years after sexual assault conviction

Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 15 years after sexual assault conviction The GuardianHarvey Weinstein sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexual assault BBCHarvey Weinstein sentenced to 15 years on New York sex crime conviction NBC NewsWeinstein resentenced to 15 years for sexually assaulting former production assistant Le Monde.frHarvey Weinstein Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Sexual Assault After New York Retrial Variety

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Citizen Digital

Police officer shot dead in daytime ambush by bandits in Isiolo

According to Isiolo County Police Commander Isaac Sang, the heavily armed attackers targeted the vehicle while it was en route to a Safaricom telecommunications site, catching the maintenance team and their security detail by surprise. Tension is escalating rapidly in Isiolo County after suspected bandits launched a daring daytime ambush on Wednesday in Nyachis, shooting a National Police Reservist (NPR) officer who was escorting Safaricom technicians.According to Isiolo County Police Commander Isaac Sang, the heavily armed attackers targeted the vehicle while it was en route to a Safaricom telecommunications site, catching the maintenance team and their security detail by surprise. This latest violence strikes a community already reeling from a devastating raid in the Gotu area just a week ago, where ruthless bandits killed five people, including two Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) officers, an NPR officer, and two civilians during a search and recovery operation. That previous massacre sparked widespread outrage, leading angry residents to paralyze transport along the busy Isiolo - Moyale highway as they demanded immediate security interventions.Wednesday’s bold assault on vital infrastructure workers demonstrates the worsening audacity of bandits operating within the region, complicating government efforts to restore order despite ongoing police operations and the deployment of...

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Citizen Digital

Saka says England still have 'scar' from World Cup semi-final loss

England begin their Nations League campaign against world champions Spain at Wembley on September 26 just nine weeks after they conceded two late goals in a painful last-four loss to Lionel Messi's Argentina in Atlanta. England's forward Bukayo Saka (L) and defender Nico O'Reilly arrive to speak to the press before a training session at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City on July 9, 2026, during the 2026 World Cup football tournament. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA / AFP)Bukayo Saka believes the England squad still have a "scar in us" following their agonising World Cup semi-final defeat.England begin their Nations League campaign against world champions Spain at Wembley on September 26 just nine weeks after they conceded two late goals in a painful last-four loss to Lionel Messi's Argentina in Atlanta.Saka scored a hat-trick as England beat France 6-4 to finish third at the World Cup.But the 25-year-old Arsenal winger made it clear that the pain of failing to win England's first major men's international football title since a 1966 World Cup triumph on home soil ran deep."Obviously, there's still a scar in us," Saka told the BBC on Wednesday. "When you believed, and everyone was so united and so confident we could do it, not just us, but the whole country."We're trying to draw a line under it now and focus on the new international season and what we have coming up now."You try to mo...

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Google News — World

“This isn't a question of if, it's a question of when.”

“This isn't a question of if, it's a question of when.” PoliticoEthiopia, Norway, UK Pledge $240m To CEPI Pandemic Preparedness Plan News Agency of NigeriaEthiopia, Norway and UK commit US$240 million to CEPI’s global plan to tackle epidemic and pandemic threats CEPICEPI seeks US$2.5bn as Ethiopia, Norway, UK pledge US$240m for pandemic preparedness News Agency of Nigeria

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Google News — Business

Startup EnerVenue Wins First Major Battery Storage Deal in China

Startup EnerVenue Wins First Major Battery Storage Deal in China Energy ConnectsUS battery start-up launches China factory ahead of Trump-Xi summit in Washington South China Morning PostAn American startup ditched Kentucky for China. Here's why. YahooEnerVenue Secures 11 MWh Energy Storage Order for Northern China Oilfield solarquarter.comEnerVenue opens China battery factory after abandoning $264M Kentucky plant The American Bazaar

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